The Silent Ones : The Khazâds Tales
by Kami Shawe
Summary: Hobbits, a race never seen, never heard, but everyone important seems to encounter. Were hobbits really as innocent as they appeared to be? Dwalin's Tale is up! Pre-Hobbit. Khazâds in exile timeline.
1. Nori's Tale

Silent Ones : The Khazâds Tales

Nori's Tale

Disclamer: I don't own anything but the theme behind the idea and I'm making no profit off this, duh.

Notes:

Happens after the fall of Erebor

The hobbits are not considered a Great race of Middle Earth. Since most people have never heard of or seen a hobbit before, they are an unknown sub-species; a bit like Beron the Skin Changer. Once great but now virtually unknown.

* * *

Nori never told anyone about the first time he met his Ze. The person had done everything right and wrong to catch his attention, and wounded his professional pride as a crafter of his caliber, in his chosen trade no less. He had, quite literally, chased his Ze through the back alleys of Minas Tirith, one of the greatest cities of Men, and the Gondor seat of power.

The cloaked being had neatly hoodwinked him while exiting a tavern Nori had been entering. Leaving him floundering with the server, Nori was penniless as he waited for his contact to arrive with a job offer. Temper irked at whoever had quick-fingered him un-noticed, he reached an angry boiling point when his target (and that days pay purse) was literally taken from his tender mercy by a slip of a figure, the size of a stripling. Oh no, one did not steal his things and take his targets without consequences. As some would say, the Chase was on.

What followed was a chase he could never have imagined, and to this day, left him in awe to have even encountered such a being. From the rafters of the Gondorian throne room where his target had been killed, the nimble figure had fled on swift feet. Bounding over rooftops and alleyways, the assassin moved like a rabbit, making leaps three times a man's height and distances of entire market squares unseen in the mountains shadows. The figure moved with a grace and ease Nori had never seen in the Four Great Races of Middle Earth, not even in the ageless tree-huggers.

Twice, Nori had caught the creature or fumbled it's footing, and every scuffle resulted in Nori losing something in his possession, much to his embarrassment. He even lost the pursuit once due to shear exhaustion; Khazâds were not long-term sprinters, thank you very much. No matter how lean and nimble a dwarf Nori was. Yet, the figure had merely looped back and dilly-dallied on the terrace above him, cheekily taunting him as Nori sprawled on a random Gondorian rooftop, huffing and puffing to catch a second wind. Really, did the tunzâl have an endless supply of energy?

The single heart stopping moment, when he realized the being was his Umùradel, was when Nori had finally herded and cornered the little thing onto the promontory of the Minas Tirith courtyard. The same one, years later, that Denethor II, last Steward of Gondor, would run off of while on fire. Of all the things he expected the smaller being to do: dodge or duck around him, tackle him, magically anchor a rope and rappel down the side, what happened was the least expected thing to do it. Turning to give Nori a cheeky wave goodbye after kissing two fingers to their own lips his Ze had literally jumped over the edge.

Swearing so bad Dwalin would have blushed purple, and cursing about suicidal mysteries, he watched the end of his Kurdel ra Umùradel. Only, to his flabbergasted eyes, the being bounded like a cat at the end of the very sickening distance, and gave a blearily seen bow to Nori. It was a very numb and limp Khazâd that watch his Kurdel meet up with two other cloaked beings the same size as his Ze and melt into the city populace.

It was not until Dori's questioning remark about his Intended Braid upon returning home that he realized his Ze's courting bead was gone from its braid. All the things that his Ze had lifted from him in Minas Tirith had returned and the job payment his Ze had snatched from Nori, which started the chase he'd never forget was sitting right on top of his travel pack. When his Kurdel had the time to return the items without him noticing, Nori will never know.

Aulë have mercy on his soul, because he didn't think he could match whoever his One was or whatever race they came from. That's if he ever saw them again. It was a year later that he found, in his hair, a strange bead made of swirling colored glass, glinting and dazzling in the light. It had miniature flowers surrounding a pair of crossed swords with the Westron letters "**Tûk"** suspended in the middle.

* * *

Notes:

Langauge Tips:

Ze = One

Khazâd = Dwarf

tunzâl = Annoyer

Kurdel = Heart of Hearts

Umùradel = Soul of Soul

ra = and

Stripling is Tolkien's word for a younger dwarf or dwarf child.

So, Yes, Nori's One is a hobbit. It's set up so it could be any hobbit; male/female, Bilbo or some OC. I also decided to add another air of mystery by using the "old" version of Took. I might do an actual storyline later on if there's enough demands. The main story "Silent Ones" is going to be an AU anyway.

Ori is going to be the last Encounter since he's the scribe, collector of information and observations. He'll have things like historical Myths and abilities of the hobbits that the others have met. Right or wrong it will be what the Khazâds think about their Ze.

The Intended's Braid is a basic braid that I'm having the dwarfs wear to keep their One's courting bead until they can be exchanged with their One to start courting. The Intended Braid is then turned into a Courting Braid.

I love comments, please give your opinions! Is there anything to fix, add, or elaborate on?


	2. Dwalin's Tale

Silent Ones :The Khazâds Tales

Dawlin's Tale

Disclaimer: Yah, don't own the characters, Tolkien, The Hobbit or anything else under copyright; otherwise, I wouldn't be rubbing pennies and bribing tooth fairies to make a living. The storyline is mine though, enjoy!

* * *

It was in the city of Dale when Dwalin first glimpsed them, a shadowed figure blending into the hustle and bustle of the famous market place. Glinting from one alleyway to the next, Dwalin would have never spotted the person if he hadn't almost run him/her over while chasing the infamous Star Thief.

Properly sized and cloaked in a material much like the Lorien leaf-eaters used, at first sight he mistook it for a Khazâd, perhaps even a _stripling_, but a fleeting glance back revealed bootless feet. Then, in one blink of his eyes, the being was already gone.

So surprised, he tripped over his own two feet while careening around a corner of an alleyway, having forgone his curiosity in place of his assigned duty. The Thief did come first on his list of priorities for the day, despite the odd pang of longing he felt at leaving the oddity. Still, in the space of one-foot fall and an embarrassing self-entanglement of his own limbs and gear, he'd lost both the oddity and the thief.

Aulë save him from the wrath of the Imperial Head Guard, it was not his day. He'd much rather chase his princely charge Thorin, cousin and friend, out of trouble than chase the slippery Star Thief. Why again, did they have Dwalin chasing a stripling who had been looking for five-fingered discounts? Oh yah, they called it training.

It was his unfortunate luck that his day of guard training in the city was the same day the Star Thief caused trouble. The same day the Calamity attacked. The same day Hellfire rained down on Dale and Erebor.

It was in the after mass, amiss the chaos and destruction the dragon left that he even thought of the figure again. Guiding and cajoaling the grieving into a marching migration away from the desolation, he caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure flitting around the city of Dale. A lone book and chest in hand, the figure went from person to person, who was dead or appeared dead, collecting a keepsake and writing something down along the way.

Years later, on a trip through the Forest River around Esgaroth, heading to the Iron Hills, he encountered a very odd tree. Hanging from the branches were token of all shapes and sizes: many were family beads on metal strings, some were medallions, and others were random objects. The most puzzling things thou, were the dull gemstone jewelry that sang to his stone senses something he had never heard of in stone lore. For all that the silvers, golds, and even a few hints of mirthil _sang_ to him, the jewels they cradled were cloudily and lack luster. They were silent as the death of, he assumed, their previous owner, who was residing in Mandos Halls. There also, around the base of the tree, were natural looking carvings of every name that had fallen in Dale and Erebor, many he never knew or recognized, but none that was foreign, not man or Khazâd. Who were the dead ones that owned the odd jewelry?

The men, Dwalin was escorting, claimed the tree had sprouted on the eve of Erebor's downfall. It was not the only tree like it, they claimed, and every person who tried to take from the trees scattered across Middle Earth, planted at lost kingdoms or tragic battles, was never seen again. Such tall tales the race of Men had!

Yet, on the night he made it to the Iron Hills, he found a courting bead hanging from his axe. A strange glass bead with curious flowers, surrounding a feather that looked like a quill, a book, and the Westron letters of "_**Labingi**_". He was not surprised that his Ze's courting bead was gone the next morning after he'd switched the strange bead with his Intended's.

It even made Dwalin a little happy, shown in his own gruff and grumpy way, that his little Ze seemed to know when Dwalin needed them most. A calming balm at his side when no one was looking. He catch glimpses of his Ze with others while he wandered middle earth, playing mercenary or blacksmith.

However, every time Dwalin asked for them to remove that cloak his little Ze always pointed to some point in the distance. A place Dwalin always assumed pointed towards home. Odd, that he always ended up at Khagolabbad, and the only times and place his little one pointed East. If only his little Ze would speak instead of giving confusing directions. Words were so much easier to understand than pointed fingers.

* * *

Notes:

Khagolabbad = The Blue Mountain

Dwalin's One I tried to reflect characteristics of Ori since they are a popular pairing.

stripling- is Tolkien's word for Dwarf Children/ Young Adults. Dwarfling is a word used only in fandoms.

The glass beads do have a meaning. The flowers are the individuals characteristics, I just don't know a thing about flower meanings and language. Hence, why I haven't listed specific flowers. While, the objects and names reflect the hobbit's family. Which family do you guy's think Dwalin's Hobbit came from? It should be fairly easy for you guys to find. :D

I like comments and speculations, so please share the love! Who should I do next?


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